Grace for Your Day February 15

In a preaching magazine that I read, the author suggested the following ways to say “I love you” to someone.

1. Make a homemade card with a picture of the two of you on the cover.
2. Write a poem. It doesn't even have to rhyme.
3. Send a love letter listing the reasons "Why I love you so much."
4. Pledge your love for a lifetime.
5. Plan a surprise lunch.
6. Bake a giant cookie.
7. Make a coupon book and include coupons for various deeds of kindness.
8. Kidnap the car for a thorough washing and detailing.
9. Compose a love song.
10. Arrange for someone to sing that love song to you and your spouse on a date.

Needless to say, these are all wonderful things to consider. They are wonderful things for husbands and wives to do for each other in light of the recent Valentine’s Day Holiday. However, it leads to the question: “What is God’s definition of love?” “How does He want us to say ‘I love you’ to each other?” As in all things, the Bible has an answer to that question because Ephesians 5:25-31 says:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are parts of His body.  For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

Paul says that this is what a husband’s love should look like for his wife. This is how he says “I love you.” He needs to care for her like his own body. He needs to nourish her, cherish her, and treat her like his own flesh because that is what she is. “And the two shall become one flesh” which sounds very romantic.

It sounds very ideal but what does it mean? What does it look like in real life? Does it look like writing a poem? Does it look like planning a surprise lunch or baking a giant cookie? Does it look like composing a love song?

We will answer all of these questions and more this Sunday morning at Grace Fellowship Church. This week, we will be talking about how a husband should love his wife. We will talk about how he can cherish her like this. Obviously, this is not easy to do. It is difficult because Jesus is the standard. He is the example for husbands to follow and no one can measure up to Him but, with Jesus’ help, husbands can grow into His image. With His assistance, they can learn how to imitate Him in this most important area and we will talk about what that looks like this week.

The sermon will be recorded on Saturday night and posted on our You Tube Channel. Please join us and find out the meaning of love according to the Bible. – Jeremy Cagle